... or "You might be a red neck if"
Well, I was given a big blue tank from and industrial water system. It was used to buffer pressure fluctuations and is the same type that is used on well systems. Those of us with wells know what I mean.
Here's a picture of it. It's 24 inches across and about 4 foot tall. Total volume is a bit over 80 gal, if my math is to be trusted.
Hmmm, it's a nice big tank -- surely there is some place to put it ...
Well, my air system only has 60 gal of storage in the tank under the compressor. It also is prone to collecting a LOT of moisture in our humid summers. So, putting the tank after the compressor and before the black iron pipe would give a second place for expansion to take place -- dropping out moisture. It also will add a bunch more volume so the system can be at higher pressure for a longer time.
Looking at the outlet for the tank, I found that there was a pin hole. Must be why they tossed it. Sand blasting it found the pin hole had 13 buddies! 14 holes total. Hmmm, welding a patch plate on the bottom fixes that up. Had to double weld a couple spots, but not too bad.
The bottom bung is ok for a condensate drain, but what about the air in and air out? I drilled 1 1/4" holes in the top. One neat the edge and one nearer to the center. The outside edge hole is the inlet (the fitting is "in" to avoid confusion). I took a 3/4" 90 degree elbow and added a 12" stub to it. Put that into the tank and aimed the stub so it was aimed at the side and down at about a 15 degree angle. The air in should then swirl around the outside and condense out the moisture, which should flow down. The out fitting is a 3/4" coupler welded outside the tank, with a 12" stub on it. The stub end in the tank should be at the exact center of the tank. Much harder for water to get out and into the lines. I should have taken pictures of these fittings, but forgot! I like to be able to isolate things, so the inlet, outlet and drain all have ball valves.
Here is a picture of the finished tank in its new home next to the tank mounted compressor. If you look in the back ground there is a second compressor that has no tank. It is my supplemental compressor for heavy jobs like sandblasting and needle scaling. It is a 3 hp unit that had it's tank rust thru. It is bolted to the table and then feeds by a hose to the "T" on the tank. The hoses are all 3/8 ID and the fittings are 3/8 ID too. I didn't want the 1/4 NPT fittings being the constriction feeding the system.
How's it work? Well, it doesn't leak, collects moisture ( I cut a hole in the rubber bladder) and in general seems to be fine. Will know more after some heavy use occurs.
jb
Well, I was given a big blue tank from and industrial water system. It was used to buffer pressure fluctuations and is the same type that is used on well systems. Those of us with wells know what I mean.
Here's a picture of it. It's 24 inches across and about 4 foot tall. Total volume is a bit over 80 gal, if my math is to be trusted.
Hmmm, it's a nice big tank -- surely there is some place to put it ...
Well, my air system only has 60 gal of storage in the tank under the compressor. It also is prone to collecting a LOT of moisture in our humid summers. So, putting the tank after the compressor and before the black iron pipe would give a second place for expansion to take place -- dropping out moisture. It also will add a bunch more volume so the system can be at higher pressure for a longer time.
Looking at the outlet for the tank, I found that there was a pin hole. Must be why they tossed it. Sand blasting it found the pin hole had 13 buddies! 14 holes total. Hmmm, welding a patch plate on the bottom fixes that up. Had to double weld a couple spots, but not too bad.
The bottom bung is ok for a condensate drain, but what about the air in and air out? I drilled 1 1/4" holes in the top. One neat the edge and one nearer to the center. The outside edge hole is the inlet (the fitting is "in" to avoid confusion). I took a 3/4" 90 degree elbow and added a 12" stub to it. Put that into the tank and aimed the stub so it was aimed at the side and down at about a 15 degree angle. The air in should then swirl around the outside and condense out the moisture, which should flow down. The out fitting is a 3/4" coupler welded outside the tank, with a 12" stub on it. The stub end in the tank should be at the exact center of the tank. Much harder for water to get out and into the lines. I should have taken pictures of these fittings, but forgot! I like to be able to isolate things, so the inlet, outlet and drain all have ball valves.
Here is a picture of the finished tank in its new home next to the tank mounted compressor. If you look in the back ground there is a second compressor that has no tank. It is my supplemental compressor for heavy jobs like sandblasting and needle scaling. It is a 3 hp unit that had it's tank rust thru. It is bolted to the table and then feeds by a hose to the "T" on the tank. The hoses are all 3/8 ID and the fittings are 3/8 ID too. I didn't want the 1/4 NPT fittings being the constriction feeding the system.
How's it work? Well, it doesn't leak, collects moisture ( I cut a hole in the rubber bladder) and in general seems to be fine. Will know more after some heavy use occurs.
jb
